Author: Mishaal Mubarak

Australia have already run through one of their usual pacers. Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the Australian squad after the third Test match for the remainder of the series following a calf strain. As huge a blow as it was, it would be minuscule compared to the damage Australia would bear in case Mitchell Starc is forced to the fringes. The Aussie pacer began experiencing discomfort in his back as early as the first innings of the Boxing Day Test. Despite that, Starc managed to bowl 41 overs throughout the game, and those too as well as he usually…

Saxton Oval last hosted an international game in 2023, when New Zealand hosted Bangladesh for an ODI game. Before that game, the venuepreviously saw action all the way back in 2019. That’s also when a T20I was played here. Coming into this dead rubber of a game, both teams will find Saxton Oval somewhat more unwelcoming than they would fancy. Sri Lanka, more so.  They have not found much to write home about on this tour so far. They have not been impressive with the ball and downright terrible with the bat. For the majority of the first T20I, Sri…

Mitchell Marsh usually makes headlines for the noise he makes rather than the lack thereof, as it happened in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy. All-rounders get to savor miracles and endure tragedy in the same thing, and that is the fact they can, both, bat and bowl. In the event they fail to turn up with the bat, they still have their bowling prowess to do write-home-about stuff. Or vice versa. But if they keep on faltering in one of their two jobs, the other becomes more of a part-time thing.  Marsh has been experiencing something similar. At the start of the…

Batsmen win you games. Bowlers win you tournaments. But none do anything alone. Cricket, as you must have figured out by now, is a team sport. Even if you field a bowler as lethal as Jasprit Bumrah, on a pitch as rewarding as the MCG’s, you would still fall short of victory if sufficient support is unavailable. India may not like it, but they are helping reinforce the belief that there is no savior in cricket.  To be Jasprit Bumrah right now might be the most desirable and undesirable thing at the same time. This year, Bumrah bowled as if…

Ask any Aussie player and they will have a story, or ten, of how Steve Smith loves practicing for his batting in the nets. It’s Christmas, yeah, but Smith has to bat. It’s 2 am. Does not matter, throw him his bat. It’s raining outside. Bummer! But not for Steve Smith, he will practice in the hotel hallways if he must.   Everyone loves a good success story. Seeing people start from nothing and go on to achieve everything gives a sense of second-hand fulfillment. But the path to success is not always straight and uncrooked. Ask Smith, who has seen…

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy this year has disappointed a little in terms of sledging and on-field drama but the fourth game tried to make up for that shortcoming when Virat Kohli was seen shouldering the 19-year-old debutant Sam Konstas.  This attempt to make the series a touch more interesting was made after the tenth over in the first session when both players ‘made inappropriate physical contact’ while walking across the pitch. A verbal altercation followed, prompting Usman Khawaja and on-field umpire Michael Gough to jump in as a mediators.  The replays of the contact showed that Virat Kohli had changed his…

If you need to know anything about Pakistan, they love to spoil parties. They also try to make everything about themselves. Getting whitewashed by Bangladesh at home meant that Pakistan’s chances of reaching the World Test Championship (WTC) final were dead and gone. But that is not the way they like things. They like to spice things up. Meet the table-toppers as the final boss. Make them fight for survival.  South Africa are only one win away from becoming the first team to qualify for the WTC final, but that they have to get past Pakistan for that is nothing…

So far the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been something like a tennis match. After the first game when India got the better of the hosts, things looked to be going in the visitors’ favor. But that was soon upturned when Australia bested the second game, and this dominance lasted until the very day the Gabba Test ended in a draw. Now once again, India seem to be in a better position. For one, they have plenty to gain, unlike Australia. If they win the Boxing Day Test, they will not only bolster their chances of reaching the World Test Championship (WTC)…

England Test captain, Ben Stokes, has been ruled out of all forms of cricket for the next three months after his hamstring injury resurfaced. Stokes was seen leaving the ground after the second ball of his thirteenth over in the third innings. It was moments after he delivered a bouncer to Rachin Ravindra when he was seen limping off the field, with visible pain on his face, clutching his left thigh. As expected, it was soon confirmed that the fast-bowling all-rounder would not return to the field and was due to undergo scans to assess the full extent of his…

Barring a handful of changes, a similar Sri Lanka like the one that earlier faced the Kiwis at home, have flown to New Zealand for a white ball tour. The Islanders will play three T20Is and an equal number of ODIs, making it the second time they will bilaterally face the Black Caps within a year.  Sri Lanka squad for T20I series in New Zealand Dunith Wellalage is the only player from the team that faced New Zealand in November, to be missing out on the away tour. The reason behind this decision is probably because the rookie spinner’s skillset…